Chapter Hundred Twenty-Two

The Trial of Style

 

 

The dressing salon opened its doors even in this late hour. Nara never slept, as people said, and the elites tended to spend more of their wakeful time at night rather than in the morning. Plus, Kasuga's presence.

Not many doors were willing to stay closed in front of one of the Great Lords. Kasuga's mere sight made the guards and attendants of the salon bow and usher her in with the most pleasing of words.

"Your Majesty -- what do we owe your blessed presence here?"

"A dress Her Majesty desires for the Trial tomorrow?"

"Something astounding and splendid to fit Her Majesty's tastes?"

Looking at Kasuga, one might wonder what these people were even talking about. She clearly favored minimalism and monotony. Why even bother, when their shop was so brimming with color and embellishments?

Kotone also looked out of place in her modest pearly-grey priestly outfit. But at least Aomi fit right in the salon, summoning the immediate attention of all the workers with her flashy robes.

The moment Nekohiko stepped in, though...

The runes on the floor lit up, sensing his presence. The nearest Binding guard snapped her head toward him, grim.

"A dummy?" And before Nekohiko could do anything for the fear of exposing himself even more, she and the others rushed at him, clasping their fingers over his shoulders and wrists.

"Hey," he lashed out, struggling.

Kasuga joined his side shortly. "What is the matter, Masters? This is my assistant. I need him."

"Your assistant is a dummy doll, and this establishment doesn't allow such to come in," the female guard told her, restraining Nekohiko on his left side while her fellow guards held him down on the right. "They disturb the patrons too much."

"Definitely a dummy, but so oddly made," one of the other guards whispered. He was palming Nekohiko's ball joins in his wrists and elbow while his gaze clung to Nekohiko's humanlike face. "All the parts except for the face are so openly doll-like..."

"It's because I am a human with missing limbs, all right?" Nekohiko growled. "Do I not deserve some dignity -- to not have people grabbing me for no reason just because I have doll-like limbs? I'm a person, not a doll!"

...

The statement gave them pause.

He was incredibly well-spoken for a doll, which signaled the presence of First-rate Aspects. Most dolls never had those unless they were contraband or made with Dark, insidious spells nobody wanted to deal with.

Nekohiko didn't know what spells exactly were used in this salon to notify the guards about the presence of dummies, but he could bet they weren't very powerful. Likely, the spells reacted to his joints and the Binding used on keeping him together. He wondered if him being fully covered with flesh and skin would not counteract this.

"Also, make sure to check whose Binding it was to make my limbs," he added with menace in his tone. Rather than keep struggling against their hold, he relaxed, turning his hand palm-up as though in an offer. "Go on, try. Check."

Kasuga nodded them on. With only the merest of spells to read the Binding Imprint used on Nekohiko's hand, the issue was over.

Morokata's and Hibiki's Binding shone like a brand of quality upon the guards' spells. As well as Nekohiko's own Binding, mixed in with Abihiko's from the time when they had added to the doll construction of the spells inside him. Quite a combination of Binding auras.

The guards might not know whose powerful Binding was in his body, but they certainly recognized the intimidating mixture.

If a doll, Nekohiko had been made by such supreme Binders that almost nobody here could say a word against his presence.

Like one, the guards retreated, bowing in shock.

"F-forgive us, Master."

"You may pass as you please!"

Someone from the back even hissed at the attendants to notify Her Majesty Iokirihime about two such imposing figures as Kasuga and Nekohiko visiting the "Prosperity and Elegance" tonight. A few of the other attendants already dashed forward, their hands carrying trays with tea and sumptuous desserts piled on.

"We hope you enjoy your time in our store!"

Aomi was already on it, twirling through the wide, glorious rooms of gold and crystal and gawking at the pretty dresses there. Almost in every room they passed, there were young mistresses and masters, either Binding the fabrics to form elaborate dresses directly onto their bodies, or watching from the sides how others did it. The atmosphere of endless gushing, of whispering silk and rustling brocade made all the clinking of jewels all the more mysterious.

The next room was with Binders weaving fabrics from flower petals and spidersilk. The one after that -- a room with fire itself slowly being tamed into the semblance of fabric. Aomi snorted at seeing that. Indeed, after the lava cloth she and Nekohiko had become used to in the Hira castle, this left a lot to be desired, in comparison.

But then, they came over to the adjacent hall -- a colonnaded room full of mirrors where the droplets of water swirled in the air. And Aomi couldn't help a gasp.

Even Kasuga and Kotone paused at the entrance, mesmerized.

One could feel it. With the water, with the gently-cool quality of air in here, with how infinite the mirrors all around the place...

Iokirihime was in this room.

But not currently busy with the dress-making like the few Towa Binder girls were in the center of the floor. Their spellcasting was admirable and very fluid as they spun the threads of lucid water droplets into fabric. But it was subpar compared to how Iokirihime would have done it. Nekohiko did not doubt for a second.

A fresh spray of water breathed on them as they passed the two Binding girls and finally entered the niche where the attending servants of the salon were busy serving their patrons. Among several noblewomen and noblemen of Towa heraldry, Iokirihime was hard to miss.

Everyone was either helping themselves to the desserts the attendants brought, or chatting with each other amiably, commenting on the dresses the other nobles tried on to show them off. Iokirihime didn't do anything. As usual. She only lounged in her reclining chair, her pose so picturesque, one would think she was posing for a painter to draw her.

Her gaze, unreadable and apathetic, clung to the dance of water droplets in the air. Nothing else seemingly existed, for her.

Not even when Kasuga, Aomi, and Kotone stopped right before her, inclining their heads in greeting.

Kotone couldn't help but get distracted by the spellcasting behind them, so she sidled aside, finger to her lips as she observed the dance of the droplets woven into a translucent, shimmering cloth.

"Water Spirits are the most calming, aren't they?" she mumbled. "I sense... the Spirits of the Mountain Brooks in the water itself? How charming."

"Your Majesty," the salon's attendants called Iokirihime, tremulous. "These distinguished fellow patrons wished to join you in the dress appraisal. Would that be fine?"

Without much thought, Iokirihime waved her slender hand, meaning acceptance. But she didn't seem to be aware who was here before her. Neither interested in finding out.

Kasuga's shoulders ever so slightly dropped. At least Aomi didn't take this as a defeat.

The young girl posed with a flourish, too, and enfolded with her fan Kasuga and Nekohiko. "Khem, khem! We come bearing gifts, Your Majesty of Towa! A doll and a fashion disaster, waiting solely for your advice in how to make them look presentable, mmmhmm."

...

Slowly, Iokirihime's perfect brows creased. As though pondering, she finally tore her gaze off the Towa spell and to the small gathering before her.

Seeing as Nekohiko was the "doll", did it mean Aomi had just called Kasuga a "fashion disaster"? Kasuga skewed her eyes at Aomi but didn't say a word. She had long abandoned all desire to argue with the immature girl. Kasuga resorted to merely freezing her out for such an open insult.

"Thank you for the introduction, Lady Abi," Kasuga said, dry. "Your services to the Nagare household are not unappreciated."

"I mean, she likes fashion, so I'm just trying to make her notice you." Aomi winked at Iokirihime behind her fan. "I don't think you are a fashion disaster, really. Especially when you wear all those peacock feathers on you. Not right now, of course. Now you look so... boring, ugh."

"It is a war outfit."

"I thought you find war exciting, no?"

"War -- yes. Clothes have nothing to do with it," Kasuga sighed, clearly irritated. 

At last, Iokirihime focused her eyes directly on Nekohiko. She'd discarded Kasuga and Aomi outright, only vaguely intrigued with their presence, but not displeased.

Nekohiko's sight struck her, though.

Crystals and icicles on her headdress twinkled when she tilted her head. "Doll?"

All the closest Towa nobles stopped whatever they were busy doing and gaped at Nekohiko in horror. Iokirihime stood up, her gaze as though pinned to Nekohiko's face.

"Who let you in, doll?"

"Your Majesty, th-this is a doll made by Lord Morokata's own hands--" one of the attendants began, quivering.

The mention of Morokata did smooth out some distaste in Iokirihime's eyes, but did nothing to her intrigue. "Morokata made a doll? He's never bothered, before," she said, tonelessly.

"I am the first one he's ever made," Nekohiko said.

Iokirihime's proximity had never bothered him, unlike her elder sister's. Hinokuma had possessed a ruthless personality, predatory and sometimes even cruel. Only focused on reaching her goals regardless of what happened while she did.

Iokirihime, on the other hand, was mellow. In a detached, ethereal way. Coldness and cruelty also sometimes flickered under the surface, but it was never targeted. Nekohiko appreciated that about her.

Even the subtle chill wafting off her now didn't make him shiver.

He smiled at her.

"I didn't have a body, and he was nice enough to give me one."

Not that it hadn't come along with caveats and some insidious "surprises". But he had to give it to Morokata. The body was well-made and served him so far.

"Did anyone force you into a doll form?" Iokirihime slowly sauntered around him as though studying.

"No."

"Did anyone abuse you in it? Blood orders? Master wills?"

...

Not that I know of. Or haven't asked myself to do.

"No," Nekohiko said, resigned.

"Mmmmm."

She let him be. He could sense that she didn't mind his presence anymore by how relieved the Towa nobles were in the lounging area. Some had already begun sipping their teas and wines and watching the fashion performances nearby. Aomi plopped on one of the seats, reaching for the dessert tray as well.

So it must all be good?

But Iokirihime wasn't done. She neared, examining his features up close.

"Do I know you, doll?"

"Only in passing," he answered honestly.

"I see." She trailed her gaze to the shimmering dresses on display even when continuing with him. "I do not have a good memory for faces. Everyone's visage blurs after a while. Forgive me if I cannot recall you, doll."

"Ironic, for the Queen whose domain is Memory spells," Aomi giggled into her fan. "Isn't it?"

"Now that you put it like this -- yes, quite. But Memory spells only work on something that you already possess in your mind. People's faces or names isn't something I am interested in," Iokirihime went on, gentle. "Thus no point in searching for them where there aren't any."

Nekohiko waited for her to go on, but of course she wouldn't. Nothing much interested her in the world, in general.

Aside from some very special things.

"You do seem to be able to remember Morokata," he pointed out. "The two of you are engaged, I am aware -- but your loyalty to him must spread much farther than that."

Would you not attack the Nagares for him?

Would you not kill for him?

Would you not keep a part of my body, just to protect it -- solely for him?

Like before, even Morokata's name gave her life. Iokirihime's eyes lit up, warmer. "He is the kindest person I know. Of course I would remember him."

Out of nowhere, Kotone stirred, attracted by the turn of the conversation.

"The kindest?" Amusement gave Kotone's voice a more human expressiveness; something she had forgotten over the years. "His Majesty Morokata?"

"Yes. He is the only person in the world who is understanding and sincere."

"He is quite selective about those he shows this side of him, then," Kotone hummed. "Most people would say the opposite things about him."

"I am not most people."

...

Oh. If there was a weak spot among Morokata's allies, it certainly wasn't Iokirihime. Nothing anyone could say about him that Iokirihime wouldn't dismiss or deny.

Nekohiko could only wonder about how the Hisome Lord had managed to inspire such devotion and trust in himself. Sakami, Hibiki, now Iokirihime -- everyone sounded as though they were talking about a god, not a mortal.

So much pure, blind faith in him.

Nekohiko couldn't understand it. But when he wondered if all these people were, perhaps, only in love with Morokata -- he realized something.

Did Abihiko also not trust and believe in Nekohiko with the same undying conviction? Of course Nekohiko didn't comprehend these powerful emotions. He had never experienced love. He wasn't sure he could.

Even today, when he longed to see Abihiko, be with him, touch him... kiss him... he wondered if this was merely a deep friendship he felt for him. A friendship most people didn't know of, to compare. But... probably not love.

He had never been able to say these words back to Abihiko whenever Abihiko said them to him. "I love you." Five years ago, Abihiko had told him very often. Not so nowadays.

Actually, had Nekohiko heard him say this even once after he'd woken up as a tree?

And if so, then why not?

...

Iokirihime's attention remained with the clothes, and the conversation was seemingly over. Himself, Nekohiko was not in the mood either. It was Kasuga who started it again.

"Do you remember me?" he asked, quiet. "Or do you forget who I am, too?"

Iokirihime blinked as if resurfacing out of a dream. She turned to Kasuga, a slow, graceful tilt of her head. "You are the Bird Princess, are you not?"

"Queen. Not Princess," Kasuga said sharply and wanted to walk away. But Iokirihime's hand lay on her elbow. Not much pressure, not even an attempt to hold her down.

Only a touch and a speck of her attention. Most people would not dare to hope for even half of it.

"You are my enemy," Iokirihime said. "Of course I remember you. You always wear these dark, sinister, military clothes..."

Lovingly, her fingers stroked the stiff fabric of Kasuga's sleeve. "They are recognizable. I remember them well."

Kasuga huffed through her nostrils, looking aside. "Apparently, they are unfashionable. But thank you for the compliment."

"Eeeeh?" Aomi perked up, finally looking over her shoulder at the two Queens. She licked her fingers smeared with some sweet paste from the candied desserts, eyeing Kasuga in a stupor. "I just meant that you look so forlorn in them because of how dark they are! You need to lighten up and wear something bright and happy. Maybe then you'll stop looking as though you are on a death row, for a change!"

...

Kasuga's glare had so much restraint in it, Nekohiko was impressed. "I am on a death row, technically. Is the Trial not about whether or not I should get executed?"

"I like the way you dress," Iokirihime said faintly. "It suits you. You have... style."

For a moment, all Kasuga did was stare blankly. Then a feeble trace of pink bloomed across her cheeks as she looked down and to the side. She blinked fast. "Th-thank you, Lady Iokirihime."

"Mmmm. Your Black Bow looks even more amazing together with the rest of your outfit. I saw today, at the Trial. It was... memorable."

"I like the way you looked today, too. With the Silver Glaive of Towas," Kasuga whispered, finally meeting eyes with her. Compared to the tall and gorgeous Queen of the Seas, Kasuga seemed small -- only reaching to Iokirihime's chin at the most.

But with how straight-backed and proud Kasuga always stood, her stature did not diminish her presence in the slightest. "I cannot imagine how powerful the glaive is in the fight."

"Ah, yes." And without delay, Iokirihime slapped her hands together again, like she had done at the State Hall earlier -- and the glimmering ray of crystal light manifested in between her palms, stretching out into the Legendary Amakiwa¹Iokirihime's silver naginata weapon. weapon.

Nekohiko had to duck to not be struck by it, and so did a few of the closest attendants and nobles.

But Iokirihime ignored them all.

Her focus was solely on Kasuga now. She stamped the floor with Amakiwa's shaft tip, and shifted her pose into an even more dramatic one, leaning on her glaive.

"Now you. Show your bow again. Also, with arrows. Does Netsuito²Kasuga's Black Bow. have lightning arrows? I wonder what you will look like with those at the nock."

"What-- here?! But--"

"Don't worry." A smile touched Iokirihime's face, usually too emotionless no matter the circumstance. "You will look lovely with it. I only want to understand your fighting style since bows are not a very popular Towa method. Perhaps we could share tips. The beauty of clothes is one thing. The beauty of war -- wholly another. But not too different, are they?"

Lower, her voice dropped.

"It is all about style, after all."

And just like that, Kasuga was sold.

She lifted her hands to her chest, fumbling with the wooden plank picture she still carried around like a gift. "I wanted to ask you about this Light Mirroring spell equations! This stuff is amazing--! I wish the Nagare Binders could maybe take a look at some of them... even if I get sentenced to death. At least my people would benefit from me talking to you today."

"Ugh," Aomi grumbled, lounging back and enjoying the dazzling show that was Iokirihime and her Legendary glaive. "Nobody is killing you, enough with whining! Right, Iokiri? Can you vouch for Kasuga tomorrow and not have her sentenced to death, please? Come on, come on!"

For the first time since they'd all come here, Iokirihime noticed Aomi.

But not in the way Nekohiko had expected it either. In fact, Iokirihime gave Aomi another tight-lipped, confused little smile. Even if she didn't reply.

Nekohiko felt more and more out of place here as the two Queens began parading their Legendary weapons and swooshing them around instead of clothes as all the other patrons here did.

Kasuga gushed about the technology of the Light Mirror-making while Iokirihime only listened, nodding on and correcting her whenever necessary. Aomi changed about five or six outfits, abusing the fact that the Towa nobles were all a bit drunk and too cheery to note that she didn't have any money with her.

And Kotone... Nekohiko had no idea where she was. After she'd conversed with some Mountain Brook Spirits which had come here with the water used for Binding, she had wandered off deeper into the salon's rooms to see the mist dresses and the butterfly wing dresses and what else was in fashion in Nara nowadays.

Nekohiko only earned a headache in the middle of all this.

He missed Abihiko. Desperately. Painfully.

Hopelessly.

"Do you think Hifumi is Morokata's ally at the Trial?" he asked Kotone later, just to keep his thoughts away from his ache.

He and the others finally strolled down the Nara streets again, satisfied with whatever they had wanted to do in the dressing salon.

Now, Kasuga and Aomi were the chatty ones, sharing everything they had admired about Iokirihime.

"Why would you think so?" Kotone replied. "Hifumi is... a very neutral person. I doubt he is interested in anything political, really."

"I was just so surprised Morokata had chosen him to represent the Spiritway instead of Suminoe. It doesn't make... much sense. Hifumi is not even Spirit-attuned!" Nekohiko shook his head. "At least not to the extent you are, for instance. Let alone Haehime. Were there no other Spirit-attuned in Izumo to choose from?"

"..." For a few moments, Kotone only walked on, quiet. "Actually, I should have taken the role of the Spiritway representative under Suminoe. I am the next in line after him."

Nekohiko halted.

"Huh? So that means -- if Suminoe dies, then you will become the Head Priestess of Izumo?"

Wait, he realized. Suminoe had already died.

And the only thing that separated Kotone from becoming the Spiritway leader was... Morokata. And his scheming against her. Plus the fact that Kotone had run away a month ago, hiding from everyone in the Spiritside.

Because of Nekohiko.

"Did I endanger your claims to become the Head Priestess?" he asked, hushed. "Now that you are outlawed by Morokata?"

Dammit. Kotone must have trained for years to get where she needed to be. So highly Spirit-attuned. So closely working with Suminoe...

Had Nekohiko ruined it all by dragging her into his petty little schemes?

"It's not a big deal, Nekohiko." Kotone gave him an encouraging smile, as she had often done back when they were kids. "If it's in the Spiritway, then I will become the Head Priestess. If not then... who am I to lament something that was never Bound to be? I stood for what I believed in. Alongside you, my best and sweetest girl in all of Izumo."

...

Well, if you say so.

The conversation died out, and it was already time to say their goodbyes for the night.

Kasuga skipped over to him right before he and the others needed to part.

It was the first time he had ever seen her skipping, but she did, now. No longer a prim and proper Queen, a military general, or a scared, lonely girl who had no friends other than her brother and a giant moth monster in the sky.

Now, she looked like... just a girl of fifteen that she was.

A child, essentially.

And now that Nekohiko could see her in her element freely, he noticed that... she had one dimple in her left cheek when she smiled. Just one. Crookedly, but so uniquely her.

She raised the Light Mirror picture to his face to show him what was on it.

Unlike the other pictures that Nekohiko, Aomi, and Kotone had -- Kasuga's had Iokirihime on it, too. Because Iokirihime, being the inventor of the Light Mirror spell had seen no trouble in adding her own Mirror Reflection to Kasuga's picture. Right behind Kasuga, she stood. Not smiling, of course -- but definitely posing.

As majestically as ever.

"She... she did this, for me," Kasuga told him, brimming with the desire to share. "All this time, I thought that Towas and Nagares were enemies, but she... doesn't even care about it at all. I don't know what to do or think now. My fathers were so against Towas when they were alive. I thought that it was... important. Was it, Nekohiko? You are the true Emperor. Tell me."

...

Tell you what?

That you and Iokirihime had once been supposed to be my wives? Competing for which of the two of you would bear my child first and thus be the Empress of this land? And that this was why your fathers and Iokirihime's sister had hated each other so much?

Please no.

Never remind me of that, I beg you.

"Why can't we all be just... united? One people? Towas and Nagares are both the Empire's army. Can we not just fight on one side? Can we not all just get along?"

Gods, she sounded so naive and pure. Truly a child.

Nekohiko had never even realized that, deep inside, she was that. War and constant danger and distrust of everyone around her had raised her to be much colder and closed than she needed to be.

He could only sigh.

"One day, perhaps. I hope very, very soon," he told her, soft. "Tomorrow will take us one step closer to that."

Kasuga blinked, smiling as though against her will. "Promise?"

Aomi and Kotone came over to hug her from the back and give her kisses on her cheeks, too.

What else could he tell her in such a sweet moment? Other than --

"I promise."

 

 

---

***

 

He went to bed only after whispering good night at Abihiko from within his seashell. Abihiko was already long asleep in one of the lounging rooms back in the State Hall, surrounded by books and ledgers and manuscript piles. Nekohiko didn't want to disturb him.

But he also didn't want to go back to his doll form. In that cold and lonely bed that would feel too empty tonight after he'd gotten so used to Abihiko's warmth filling it. Beside the bed, stood the chest with Nekohiko's original body parts inside. On top of it, stood the ceramic jar with the Emerald Fir tree.

Nekohiko had watered it from a teapot just as Abihiko had used to do in the Emerald Palace, months ago. Next to the potted tree, Nekohiko put the new picture he and the others had made today.

Kasuga, Aomi, Kotone, and himself. He wondered what would Abihiko say when he saw it.

He wondered if Abihiko would feel left out or relieved he hadn't been forced to participate in something so awkward and silly.

But above all he wondered what dreams Abihiko was having now, and whether or not he missed Nekohiko just as much as Nekohiko missed him.

The picture, the pot, and the chest meant nothing in the empty, chilly room. Nekohiko fled to the seashell and descended into the sweet dreams enfolded in the heat of Abihiko's body.

Himself, he dreamed of tomorrow. And all the hopes and promises it would bring.

 

 

---

***

 

He overslept.

He was so tired and spent after the last night's late escapades that he didn't wake up even as Abihiko got from his makeshift bed and dressed and made his hair, preparing for the Trial.

Nekohiko slept serenely through all of this. Abihiko hadn't bothered to wake him, instead stroking him gently as though wishing him to descend even deeper into his sweet dreams.

But Nekohiko did wake up.

He woke up, jolting out of his sleep in his doll form. Blindly, he stared into the room, only vaguely realizing he chose the wrong body to come to. He crashed back to the pillow, mind flickering right to where Abihiko was. Into the seashell. But there--

"Did I oversleep?" Nekohiko started saying groggily when he realized that he couldn't.

He couldn't say a single word.

Because he didn't have a mouth in the seashell anymore.

He still had eyes and ears, though and could stare confusedly out into the courtroom slowly filling with people. Exactly as yesterday.

For a moment, he even felt the sense of vertigo crashing onto him, so overwhelmed he was with the chaotic waking up and being disoriented by his surroundings.

Was this truly the next day? Not the same day as yesterday? So many things in the courtroom evoked a dreamlike feeling of having done this all before. He flubbed, lost.

But no -- definitely a different day. He knew the moment he squinted out into the brightly-lit tribunes and the dais on which all the Great Lords stood.

Okinaga, as before, in his black and crimson robes. Sakai in his bone-sallow white, leaning heavily on the banisters before him as though exhausted by his mere presence here.

Iokirihime in her crystalline silvers and teals. Kasuga and Mikawa. The boy just as queasy as he had been yesterday, but the girl...

She looked refreshed, even happy in her most gorgeous Nagare uniform. The one with the elaborate, brightly-glowing magpie feathers spreading out of her epaulets and around her high stiff collar. Framed by such deep, rich colors, her pale face was like a crescent of the moon. Subdued, but so magical to lay one's eyes upon.

She glanced sideways at Iokirihime, and only rarely -- at the Imperial tribune on which Abihiko stood. But sometimes her gaze didn't linger on Abihiko and instead shifted over to...

Aomi.

Aomi was on the Imperial tribunes behind Abihiko.

"Eldest Brother," she whined. "Have you gotten the letter from Great Aunt and Uncle in Red Stone³If you forgot, that's the name of the estate where Kata and Aomi found Neko in at the beginning of the book ^^. yet? Have you read it?"

A mean thump on Abihiko's back was so loud, even Nekohiko felt the force of Aomi's small palm smacking Abihiko to make him turn.

Tiredly, Abihiko did.

...

Yep. Surely not the same day as yesterday.

Right amidst the somberly-clad ministers and councilors of the Imperial tribunes, sat the blindingly-bright Aomi. Her clothes had a different pattern today. No longer geometric and straight-cut, but of the burning vermilion. Similar to the robes Abihiko most often wore and so unlike the emerald-green he had to put on for his Imperial duties.

Perhaps it was one of the robes Aomi had spotted yesterday at the dressing salon, because it was not made just from the usual plant-based fabrics. Traces of true essence of fire were woven into the dress, making it glow as though from within with the beautiful shifting of flame all across.

Instead of white or undergarments, a searing shade of blue peeked from within her lapels, limning the contrast of colors exactly like yesterday's.

Rather than beam as usual, she was frowning. Her pearly teeth chewed on her red lip as she shook a crumpled piece of paper in her hand, showing to Abihiko.

"Auntie said Kataji had disappeared. I've grown so secure, knowing that he had arrived there last week, but now... he's missing! As if he'd never even come there! Auntie writes even his presence in the rooms is gone."

...

Nekohiko blinked, unsure what he was hearing. But Abihiko seemed to know.

"I read it," Abihiko said, terse. "No need to repeat it."

"It's as if it was a ghost or a phantom that came there instead of him. Auntie and Uncle aren't Binders, so no wonder they couldn't tell something was off," Aomi went on, horrified. "They say it genuinely feels like he'd never truly come there at all. Something else did in this place, and now even that has vanished! An illusion spell!"

"Enough."

Abihiko was clearly as irritated about this news as Aomi was, but he had other concerns on his mind now. His heart rate was quickened, but his breathing -- steady. Reserved.

As though he counted them down, trying to keep himself on track. Whatever it cost him.

He wanted to turn back to the courtroom, but Aomi's sudden perking up distracted him.

The girl's eyes trailed down to Abihiko's throat and the seashell that hung from the cord there. Her mouth opened as though around a silent gasp.

"He's awake!" She flapped her hands, drawing Abihiko's attention to the seashell. But she did drop to a whisper, however loud, to not give any of the neighboring people a hint of what she was talking about. "He sees me and he... doesn't look happy in the slightest!"

Abihiko stilled.

Then slow, his hand rose to brush his fingertips against the ribbed surface of the Kitten's Paw seashell. He unlinked the pendant from the cord and lifted it, letting Nekohiko face him.

Abihiko's long eyelashes drooped low on his cheeks, his fever blush so distinct against his skin. But more than that -- the colors of his robes, today.

Red, not green. As though no longer wanting to show off his Imperial allegiance as much as his own. Abihiko's very personal flavor and colors. Vermilion.

Very in tune with Aomi's. His expression was touched with hidden concern, but mainly heavy concentration. And only a little bit of guilt.

"Sorry I had to erase your mouth from the seashell. And from Aomi's ladybug, too," he murmured at Nekohiko. "But today is a big day, and I cannot allow even a single thing to go wrong during my pitch on the defense.

"Neko?" he added, much deeper and tenser than before. "I will say what I need, today. Nothing will stop me, including you. Do you understand?"

...

Nekohiko stared, worry slowly rising inside him like a tide that threatened to overpower him.

Why was Abihiko so menacing in his grim readiness for today's Trial?

It was an important day, yes. But Nekohiko still didn't understand why it looked so much like a march into battle. Even Aomi didn't look scared. Neither did Kasuga or the others. Aomi only fidgeted because of Kataji news. Not because of the Trial.

So why was Abihiko so different, compared to others?

What is going on, Abihiko? Nekohiko wanted to ask him.

But, obvious as it was, he had no mouth to do that with.

Abihiko didn't put the seashell back on his neck. Instead, he extended his hand to the banister before him and hung Nekohiko's seashell on one of the intricate lanterns on top of it. Right on the level of his own face, so that Nekohiko had a free view of everything Abihiko would do or say today.

Abihiko smiled.

"Witness me," he said.

Then rolled his shoulders wide, looking defiantly into the courtroom.